The Incredible Shrinking Joe Scarborough

I don't know when or where or even if Joe Scarborough's radio show airs in my area, nor do I care. The other night, a friend caught this clip from his radio show and sent it to me. It's about a blog that is published by the organization I head.

"NewsBusters, which just loves writing negative articles about me, I don't know why, a lot of really false ones and I don't know what's actually gotten into Brent Bozell, but he actually goes out of his way to write false articles about me now ...They just distort the news for their own purposes."

Now I know why MSNBC hired Joe Scarborough. He's about as accurate and honest as everyone else there.

False articles? Here's something he knows, because he and I have had this conversation privately already: I've never written a bloody article about him. Ever.

As for conservative bloggers at NewsBusters writing false articles about him, that is equally untrue. Have they sometimes been negative? Guilty as charged -- and for good reason. Increasingly, he's making statements that are stupid, reckless, provocative, insulting or a combination of all the above.

Scarborough regularly blasts the Republican Party as having betrayed its commitment to fiscal responsibility, limited government and anti-Wilsonian foreign policy. I can and do applaud him for that. But why go on a non-stop rant against George W. Bush for the audacity to launch the military surge in Iraq (yup, the one that won the war) and conclude it by declaring, "Is it not a stretch to say that many Republicans would have considered impeachment proceedings against Bill Clinton if this situation were identical?"

When Scarborough proudly proclaims that "I have been bashing my party more than the Democratic Party because I want to make sure that I am fair and down the middle," conservatives scratch their heads in disbelief. How does "bashing" your party make you "fair"? Joe, meet Non Sequitur.

That's Scarborough's problem. He bashes everyone and then whines when anyone complains.

Last Oct. 9, Scarborough was chatting with columnist Kathleen Parker and MSNBC loudmouth Lawrence O'Donnell. Parker jokingly asked if he was running for president. Scarborough replied that if he were, he wouldn't have Rush Limbaugh's vote.